Of Seals and Sand
by DarthUmbreon
Summary: (GaarNaru NaruSasu). Gift fic for Cneko2. "Then Naruto woke up and the real bloodshe began" People die. There will be fluff, angst, and strange humor.
1. Awakening

Authors Notes: Here I am writing again. After a two year absence. Plus, its yaoi. Thus it won't be very good. In fact, it'll probably suck for a few chapters until I get back into the groove of writing again. What a complete change around.

This is a gift ficcy for Cneko2. Because if I hadn't read her wonderful, funny, (Snarky) Naruto fanfics I wouldn't have started writing my own fanfictions again. Feel free to flame me. My brother and I will laugh over your stupid, narrow minded, moronic, set ways. Plus, my mom, the devote catholic already flamed me. Twice. So nothing you can say or do will affect me. I have no beta reader. So if you want this to be a bit smoother, please volunteer to be one.

Warnings and Disclaimer: I am a poor, poor college student. I don't own anything. Thusly, I don't own Naruto or the characters. Though, a few OCs might pop up here and there. There will be SHONEN AI! It'll have GaarNaru. Serious GaarNaru. Plus, a wee little bit of NaruSasu.

The mission had gone wrong. An ambush not even Sasuke or Neji could see. Wounds inflicted so severe that not even Sakura-chan could heal them. Countless successful ANBU missions wasted in an instant. The best ANBU team in Konohakagure wiped out easily. Blood, gore, and bodies lay about the quiet clearing where the battle,rather where the massacre had taken place. Then Naruto woke up, and the real bloodshed began.

Several MonthsLater in Tsunade's Office

The Fifth Hokage frowned in anger as her clear eyes quickly scanned the sheet of plain paper in front of her. It was a mission report. The ANBU team sent to investigate the massacre of team "Fox." That team had been the brightest, best ANBU team Konohakagure had to offer. Sadly, allthe brief one page reportcould tell her was that her best and favorite team had been brutally killed. Even the condensed version that left out most of the goreydetails was sickening to read.What it didn't tell her was who killed whom, and how or why.

The sole survivor wasn't awake yet. That was what probably worried her most of all, in the entire ordeal. Naruto took a week at most to heal, and in extreme cases a month. That had only happened once though.It had been three months and he still hadn't woken up yet. Everyone who knew him was very worried. Shikamaru, Konohamaru,Lee, Ino, TenTen, Hinata, Iruka, and Kakashi all visited and inquired about Naruto daily. Shino and a few others visited him very week.Every dayIruka and Kakashi brought fresh fruit for Narutowhen he woke up. Hinata, knowing his heart the best, brought miso ramen each day. However, they were the only ones besides herself that were worried about the blonde.

The villagers were demanding to know what happened to the ANBU team. Everyone was proud to say that Team Fox belonged to Konoha.Despite all that Naruto and the team had done for the village they still didn't trust the demon vessel. In fact, there were rumors that Naruto had killed the entire team. She had tried her hardest to stamp out the rumors about her successor, however, it was like adding water to apotassium fire.

Tsunade knew that Naruto would never hurt his friends. After becoming a Jounin and shortly after that joining the ANBU, Naruto had found a family. Neji, Choji, Sasuke, Kiba, and Sakura had all become his family. Slowly, they had become a solid team that trusted each other completely. On top of that Naruto had been the Captain of the team. Not because he was the smartest, fastest, wisest, stealthiest, or most clever ninja, but because he inspired his team to do their best. Team Fox always completed their missions, and never lostthe life of a teammate. It had taken hima fewyears to reach the rank of captain, but he had done it on his own.

'That brat will be fine,' Tsunade thought. 'He has the Kyuubi after all. Although,' she pondered, 'he's never lost a friend. Losing the entire team will be hard on him. He'll adapt. I hope.' Sighing softly she stared out of the large bay windows that over looked the sleepy village. They were her responsibility, but so was Naruto. Thus, the source of the conflict.

The village Elders, along with several of the villagers were demanding that she _do_ something about the demon. She knew that "that something" would be very unpleasant. She had refused to comply with their wishes. However, the pressure was steadily increasing. Coming upwith excuses to not punish Naruto were becoming harder and harder to do. Eventuallyshewould have to justflat out refuse to punish the blonde until he woke up.Tsunade was seriously considering complying with the Hidden Sand's request in order to comply with the Elders request, and help out Naruto at the same time.

Earlier that year the Hidden Sand had demanded, 'No, that's not quite right,' she mentally corrected. They had _requested_ that she send a Leaf Ninja to live within the Hidden Sand Village as a sign of the new alliance treaty. Gaara had_ suggested_ that it be Naruto. At the time, she said she would think about it. However, she knew that a Ninja from her villagewould have to be sent. The peace treaty was vital to the survival of the Hidden Leaf. Even though the attack had happened seven years ago, the village was still recovering. Plus, she knew that Naruto was the only one fit for the job.

Naruto at the time, had been with the ANBU doing missions.At that time,his going to the Hidden Sand had been out of the question. She didn't have the heart to pull him out of a place were he had finally found happiness. Yet, she knew that Naruto was the only one for the job. He was the only one who wasn't afraid of Gaara. It was vital that whoever was sent to live within the Hidden Sand Village wasn't afraid of Gaara. 'Plus,' she mentally added. 'It'll be good for him to get know the other demon vessel. It's important that he interacts with people who can keep up with him, and not be afraid of his power.'

Suddenly the messenger Nin that she had watching Naruto's progress dashed into the room. "Hokage-sama, he's awake…" Before he could finish Tsunade was already out of the office and heading towards the hospital. Not caring who she ran over, what she ran over, and what damage she did in the progress, she went forward with single minded determination.

When she got there she saw Kakashi and Hinata standing near the edge of Naruto's bed. Iruka was holding a crying Naruto. Not the usual loud tears, with a running nose, and gasping. These were silent tears of deep pain. Kakashi had set aside the fresh fruit and ramen in order to watch over his ward with a worried look on his face. Well, what a person see of Kakashi's face appeared worried. Naruto didn't even bother to look up when she entered the room. Losing his team had been rough on the nineteen year old ANBU.

"Naruto, I'm sorry about what happened to your team. But I need to know what happened." Sitting on the rumpled edge of his bed she stared at the distraught blond. When he looked up at her face, eyes rimmed red and overflowing with tears, she felt her heart break. 'He never should have been an ANBU. Losing his team was too much for him.'

Naruto slowly let go of Iruka-sensei. Wiping the tears from his eyes he stared at Tsunade. Then he glanced down at the sheets trying to collect his shattered thoughts. 'I…I…I don't want to think about it! It's my fault that they're dead! It's all my fault.' However, he was still an ANBU captain. It was his duty to give a mission report, even when he didn't want to. Being in charge of his family's lives forseveral yearshad made him very responsible. So, he started torecite the sadtale of what happened to his team.


	2. Death of an Uchia

Authors Notes: Here is Chapter two! With it comes the answer as to what happened to Naruto's ANBU team "Fox." And no, Cneko doesn't inspire Character deaths, or angst like this chapter has in plenty. She inspired GaarNaru. Sadly, I'm a SasuNaru fan, and in order to write this, I had to kill certain characters in order to make the GaarNaru believable in my simple little mind.

Warnings: Death, gore, blood, angst, tears, shonen ai...and I don't own Naruto.

"We were attacked by an Akatsuki team," Naruto growled at the mention of the people who killed his team, his family, his love. His eyes glowed red at the memory of what he found. "Akatsuki wanted me or rather the Kyuubi, but my team refused to give me up." Taking a deep breath he continued with his sad tale. As he spoke, the painfulmemories rolled through his mind like a thunder storm.

Flashback

_ANBU team "Fox" had camped just outside of a clearing. The clearing was on the western edge of the Konoha forest. Everything had gone as planned. The team had delivered the client safely to his village, and no one had been injured badly. Returning to the fire country had been uneventful. Just a few days walk from Konoha, the ANBU team decided to make camp for the night. Naruto's team was confident that nothing would go wrong. _

_Naruto didn't know what was wrong, but something was off. And it was really annoying him that he couldn't figure it out. Suddenly he realized that it was quiet. 'Odd,' he thought to himself. 'Usually this place is really noisy.' No birds were singing their happy song, crickets chirping annoyingly, or wild life foraging in the background. Earlier that day he had left his team, family, and friends to go scouting on his own. He had left Neji in charge because he knew that Neji would be able to keep them safe. Trusting Neji, Naruto had found out, was a good idea. Neji had good judgment, a cool temper, and was strong. _

_His team consisted of Neji, Sasuke, Sakura-chan, Chouji, Kiba, and himself. Neji and Sasuke were his front and rear guards. Kiba and his annoying mutt were the scouts. Chouji was their muscle and Sakura-chan was their medical ninja. He was the leader. Even though he wasn't the fastest, smartest, or most deadly ninja, he inspired his team to do their best. Plus, he always brought them all back alive. Each of them had their differences which made them as effective, yet a good team._

_Naruto's sharp nose picked up the faint scent of copper in the air. 'Blood,' he realized uneasily. 'Who did my team kill this time?' Was his first thought as the smell of fresh blood grew stronger. 'Hopefully, they just killed an animal, or the rare missing-nin that comes this close to home. Either that or Sasuke and Neji are fighting again.' The rancid stench of death suddenly entered his senses. Increasing his speed he hurried back to the campsite. _

_What he saw there made his heart grow heavy with fear, dread, and anger. 'Everyone's dead!' Not just dead he realized, but horribly mauled. It looked like Sakura-chan had been murdered first. Her pretty pink hair was lank and limp from the drying blood. From what he could tell, a powerful blow, or force, had shoved her into a large tree. It appeared that her skull had cracked open like a ripe melon. Taking a few steps forward he stumbled upon the dead body of Chouji._

_Chouji's stomach had been ripped open with some sort of dull blade. Guts were spilling out all over the ground. Chouji's death had been slow and painful. Years of killing had deadened him to gore, but it was different seeing his family like this. Naruto only found the top half of Kiba and his dog. Neji had a large, bloody hole in his chest were his heart should be. In fact, when he looked around the area surrounding Neji, he found the squashed organ. Then he found Sasuke._

"_NO! Sasuke!" When he found Sasuke his heart shattered. Unlike the others, Sasuke had been brutally beaten before being killed. Bruises and cuts covered every inch of visible skin. 'No, no, no, no, no…' Naruto mentally repeated as the death of his friends, and family sank in fully. However, losing Sasuke had been the hardest to accept. Although, he had never told the raven haired boy, he hadloved him. A lot. Months earlier they had begun an uneasy, slow, and mostly silent courtship. _

_Now the love of his life was dead. Sasuke had been pinned to the tree with his own katana. 'I didn't get the chance to tell him that I loved him.' Tears of shock, pain, and sleeping rage spilled over. Falling to his knees next to Sasuke, he hugged the still warm body to his chest. 'Wait…still warm? Maybe he's still alive and…' His thoughts were interrupted by a coughing Sasuke. Blood dribbled down his chin when he coughed. Releasing the boy from his death grip he smiled happily. 'Now I can tell him that I love him. I can get him to a medical Nin and he'll be ok!'_

_Opening his eyes Sasuke saw Naruto and mentally cursed. 'Shit. This is really bad. He'll be killed if he stays here. I've got to get him out of here.' His voice raspy Sasuke whispered to Naruto. "Naruto you dobe! Run! Now!"_

"_No! I'm not going to leave you behind. I'll get Sakura…" Then he remembered that Sakura-chan was dead. "I'll get you to the old Hag and she'll heal you. Konoha isn't far away. Please don't die! I need you to live…" Pulling out Sasuke's katana from his bleeding body Naruto reached out with his free hand to caress Sasuke's face._

"_Y…you dobe! Akatsuki is here…and…they want the Kyuubi." Sasuke shook his head shaking off Naruto's hand. Coughing up more blood he glared at Naruto, willing him to leave. When that didn't work, he decided that emotional blackmail would have to do. "D…don't waste our sacrifice. We gave…our lives to save…you. To protect you…from my brother and…the Akatsuki."_

_Closing his eyes in order to preserve energy Sasuke coughed once more. "I'm…sorry. I failed…y…you. I failed…to kill him…Naruto…I'm…sorr…" A sudden coughing fit took over him. Blood flew from his mouth and all over the stunned Naruto. With a sad sigh that softly escaped his bloody body, Uchia Sasuke died._

_Naruto's vision went black. His hand grasped Sasuke's katana tightly. It was his last tie to his love. No sounds or sights entered his pit of black despair. Almost everyone he loved was dead. Plus, the ones who weren't dead would hate him for the death of their loved ones in his team. 'It's all my fault! If I hadn't existed then the Kyuubi wouldn't have been sealed in me. Then my team, my family, my love, would still be alive and well. Sasuke would be alive right now, yelling at me for being a dobe then hugging me.' Suddenly the sound of gleeful laugher trickled into his mind. Slowly he came to recognize the sound of the voice. Then he woke up._

_From black everything went to black and white. Everything was clear to see, sounds were crisp, and his sense of smell even sharper then it was previously. In front of him stood two Akatsuki members. Neither of them were Kisame or Itachi, but that didn't matter. They were laughing at his despair, at the death of his family, at him. Sound came from their mouths, but he wasn't listening to them. Instead he was listening to the Kyuubi. _

"_Oh, they killed him didn't they? Those bad men killed your love. Your family. Poor Kitling, let me take care of them for you." Purred the Kyuubi in the back of his mind. Feeling some resistance he continued with his persuasion. "I'll let you sleep while I do all the hard work. I'll make them hurt for what they did to you. Just let me take control." Mentally nodding his head, Naruto sank into the comforting blackness of sleep offered by the Kyuubi._

_Standing up Naruto/Kyuubi smiled a feral grin the suddenly quiet Akatsuki team. Red fox eyes gleamed and glowed in the twilight. Whiskers grew and became life like on his cheeks. Hands and nails became claws, while teeth became sharper and longer like a canine's. Nine tails made of chakra flowed out behind him, waving back and forth. _

"_Let's play," Naruto/Kyuubi purred at the silent Akatsuki. Grinning at their stunned expressions he continued. "If you win, which I doubt, I'll go with you…plus, you get to live. If you lose, well…you're dead." _

"_Sure," one of them said smirking. 'This will be easy. Even though he's in fox mode, he's just a mindless beast and…' Before he could finish Naruto/Kyuubi appeared behind the Akatsuki member who had spoken. Punching his arm and claws though the guy's back and into his chest he grabbed the man's heart. Squeezing his clawed hand, he smiled at the sound of the heart being destroyed. Even more enjoyable was the little gasp the Akatsuki member madeas he died. He turned to face the other one. _

_The other one tried to attack but found that he was stuck to the ground. Glancing downwards he found that the ground was glowing with red chakra. He hadn't noticed the chakra because the feel of the Kyuubi's chakra was immense and all over the place. 'Clever. He's using his chakra to stick to me, like it would a tree. Pity he's too slow.'_

_Naruto/Kyuubi yanked his bloody claws and arm from the man's chest. Rapidly spinning on his heels, he kicked upwards at the other Akatsuki's jaw. The Akatsuki member tried to dodge, but was stuck to the ground. When Naruto/Kyuubi's kick connected with the other ninja's jaw he grinnedwhile the body went poof, and disappeared in the a puff of smoke. 'This is fun,' he thought happily, as he searched for the chakra of his foe._

_Watching Naruto from behind a tree, a safe distance away the remaining Akatsuki member was forming a plan. Gathering chakra he started to put the plan into action. However, it was interrupted by a laugh from behind him._

"_You're not the only one who can make solid clones you know." Smirk widening at the surprised ninja Naruto/Kyuubi put his revenge against the people who killed his love into action, faster than the eye can follow, or a Sharigan eye for that matter, he swung Sasuke's katana at the enemy as hard as he could._

_Before he could react to the attack, the Akatsuki Ninja found himself in two pieces. Blood sprayed away from his body in long crimson arcs. The katana that killed him was humming faintly from the force of the swing. However, he couldn't hear it because he was already dead before the top half of him hit the blood soaked ground beneath him. It was then that Naruto woke up from his slumber, shocked at the bloodshed before him. So, he abruptly shut down in his mind in retaliation so the Kyuubi could kill no more people._

"…and that's what happened to my team Old Hag. Can I be left alone now?" Naruto held back more tears. 'Enough tears. Anymore tears and I'll start to look like Sakura-chan after Sasuke…Oh crap! I didn't need to remember!' Mentally cursing as more tears flowed from his red eyes, Naruto grabbed Iruka's shirt for comfort. Iruka hugged him tightly, giving his ward as much comfort as he could. Naruto was barely felt the warm hug given to him by his older brother figure. All he could do was cry.

Crying was a terrible weakness for a Shinobi, he knew. However, he didn't care. Anything that reminded him of his teammates, or Sasuke was unbearable. Like a raw wound that never stopped bleeding, his heart ached. 'Why was I ever born? Why was I ever sealed with the Kyuubi? If I wasn't alive then they would still be alive.'


	3. A Second Seal

Authors Notes: Hi everyone! Sorry this is late. I've been very, very busy with college. Stupid tests. Stupid Homework! Gah! The evilness of it all. sighs I still need a beta reader. shrugs until, some kind soul volunteers to be my beta reader, there will be lots of mistakes.

Warnings: Shonen Ai, Gore, fluffiness in strange places, cuteness, and stuff like that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Characters, etc. This is nonprofit! I am a poor, poor college student. Trying to money out of me is like trying to get Sakura-chan to stop liking Sasuke!

Tsunade mentally frowned. 'The kyuubi and Naruto are starting to merge together at an alarming speed. It's time to put the second seal into place.' Kakashi, Iruka, and Hinata were looking at her expectantly. They knew that the village elders, along with most of the villagers, were demanding that Naruto be punished. What Naruto had said about losing control would only make things worse once the village found out.

"Not a word of this leaves the room," Tsunade growled. "Now, Hinata, I need you to leave. Put the ramen on the table." Nodding her head at the shy girl's actions, she looked at Kakashi. "Can you finish this if I fail?" At his slow nod of agreement she glanced at Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, I need you to hold Naruto steady. He shouldn't move…and he'll need the comfort."

"What's going on!" Naruto demanded. He didn't like the sound of what Tsunade was implying. He didn't want to go through anymore pain, emotional or physical. Giving a pleading glance to the leaving Hinata, he was rewarded with a sad smile from her as she left the room. 'Damn it!'

"I need to put a secondary seal on you Naruto." At his puzzled look, she sighed then continued with a more lengthy explanation. "You need a need a secondary seal in order to help the fusion process go more smoothly." At his nod of understanding, she continued. "As you know, the two of you are merging. In order to keep it even, and so that you remain in control I need to put a secondary seal on your original seal."

Naruto was too tired to care anymore. He didn't think the seal would hurt him, so it didn't matter if Tsunade put it on him. It didn't matter if the seal helped or not, his _family_ was dead and gone. Plus, life was empty without Sasuke in it. 'I don't want to live. More people are going to die because of the Kyuubi. Maybe the seal will fail and kill me.'

Iruka-sensei protectively wrapped his arms around Naruto. Nodding his head at the Hokage to signal that he was ready, he then glanced at his lover Kakashi for reassurance and comfort. Receiving a loving look in return, he smiled. Slowly Kakashi turned to face the Hokage, giving his nod of approval and readiness.

"I'm ready, Hokage-sama," Kakashi stated with hesitation. He knew what would be best for his former student. Lifting up his fallen hitai-ate to bare his Sharingan at the Hokage, he was showing that he was ready to go when ever she was. 'I hope this works,' he thought. 'My dolphin needs Naruto to live. Hell, I need that brat in my life. He's like a son.'

"Lift your shirt," Tsunade commanded softly. When he had done so, she started a complex set of hand seals. Faster and faster her hands moved, forming the right sequence of seals. Once the last seal was performed, she shoved her left hand into Naruto's naval, right over the original seal. Slowly she drew her hand away. As she did the seal started to change from red to gold. 'There. It's complete. Naruto is safe.'

Naruto felt his vision go black. When his vision returned to him slowly, he found himself in knee deep water. 'I remember this place! It's where the Kyuubi is kept locked…' before he could finish a sinister voice echoed through the space he was in. Turning around he found himself face to face with the Kyuubi. Luckily for him there were bars made of a gold colored light between them.

'You're lucky runt. If the old hag hadn't noticed my forced merging…then I'd be very happy, and you would not.' Sneering at his vessels confused look, he continued speaking.

'Every time you used my powers our minds, souls, and wills started to merge. Even tough you have the stronger will there is more of me…so in the end I would have taken over completely. The Fourth Hokage didn't anticipate this. Fool! All he wanted to do was to give his son a chance at being powerful, and give me a chance to be mortal.' Grinning the best he could, which meant a lot of sharp teeth were showing, the Kyuubi lowered it's to be closer to Naruto.

'Now, however, I am becoming more like you. Weak and soft. Fah! Pathetic.'

"Love is not weak! Neither is caring for someone!" Naruto yelled at the demon. He knew that he wouldn't be alive now if it weren't for his love for his friends.

'Then why is your _family_ dead? Hmmmm? Without me, you wouldn't have even gotten revenge!'

Gritting his teeth in rage, Naruto turned his back to the Kyuubi. Then he started to walk away down the endless corridors of his mind. Trying to ignore the Kyuubi's insane laughter in the background, he started to think about what he should do next. 'I guess the only thing that I can do is repair my life. Maybe my family's family will forgive me for getting them killed? I just don't know what to do! How can I become Hokage without Sasuke at my side?' Thoughts similar to that wandered through Naruto's mind as he wandered through the recesses of his mind.

Suddenly he reached an end of a corridor. This was first time he had found the end to anything. 'Wha…? Why did it end?' Approaching the last door he put his hand on the door knob and started to turn it. Before he could open the door he found himself abruptly woken up from his dream.

In front of him was the Old Hag. She was staring at him with an unusually sad look on her face. Wondering what else had gone wrong while he had been sleeping, Naruto slowly sat up so he could look her in the eye.

"Naruto, we need to talk." Tsunade didn't want to break the news to Naruto. Hating herself for what she was about to do, she toke a deep breath. 'I need to do this. It'll be good for Naruto and village.'


End file.
